1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure pertains in general to data communications, and more specifically to high speed wired communications via multimedia links and connectors.
2. Description of the Related Art
High Speed wired communication via multimedia links has serious challenges with respect to the loss of signal integrity during the transmission of communications via one or more connectors and/or cables associated with the multimedia links. Attenuation, crosstalk, and the size of the cable/connectors are all concerns for designers and manufacturers of multimedia links. Further, addressing one concern often has a trade off with respect to another. For example, crosstalk can be reduced with by ensuring a larger spacing among the signal wires, which however increase the physical dimension and cost.
Further, to increase the data throughput of the cable/connector of a multimedia link, the data rate of a signal pair within the multimedia link needs to be increased and/or the number of signal pairs within the multimedia link needs to be increased. Increasing the number of the signal pairs within a multimedia link has a number of difficulties. For example, to incorporate more signal pairs within the multimedia link the width of the connector of the multimedia link must be increased. Apart from increasing the cost of the multimedia link, increasing the width of the connector of the multimedia link results in the signal integrity of the pairs close to the ends of the connector being different from that of the pairs close to the center of the connector which can be quite a problem.
Increasing the data rate of a signal pair within the multimedia link so as to increase the data throughput of the multimedia link poses its own problems, as the cable attenuation increases significantly when the signal frequency increases. Further, there is practical difficulty in increasing the data rate of a signal pair within a multimedia link as there is a trade-off between the increased data rate and the increased complexity/power consumption of the communication system. Thus, it is beneficial to make connectors of a multimedia link more compact while enhancing the signal integrity of the multimedia link, thereby making the multimedia link economical and suitable for high speed wired communication.